Urgench

Urgench — center of Khorezm province

Urgench is located at the border with Turkmenistan 12 km to the West of the Amu Darya. It is a small city with a population of 140 thousand people. The city was founded relatively recently – in XVII c. by the inhabitants of the ancient settlement Kunya-Urgench. They were forced to move from their hometown due to bad natural conditions – changes of the riverbed of Amu Darya river and the subsequent drought. Now Kunya-Urgench (old Urgench) is located in Turkmenistan so these two cities are now devided by the state border. And Urgench (new Urgench) is the administrative center of the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan.

Way to Khiva

As the city is relatively young, there are no ruins of ancient monuments in it, in contrast to its ancient namesake. Due to its location Urgench is an important transportation hub at several directions at once. Since 1997 there exists a unique interurban trolleybus line Urgench - Khiva (length: 35 km). Railway line connecting the North and South Central Asia also goes via Urgench. The city has a modern airport that provides air communication with Tashkent and Bukhara, as well as with some of the major cities of Russia.